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Michael Finkel, author of 'The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit.'
We couldn’t put down our second official Outside Beyond Books Club pick: The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel. The book tells the true story of Christopher Knight, who at age 20 went to live in the woods of Maine, with no human contact, and didn’t emerge until he was caught stealing from a nearby camp 27 years later. In our Facebook group, we’ve been chatting with you about Knight’s decision to leave society indefinitely, and pondering what it means to be a hermit today.
This week, Outside features editor Elizabeth Hightower Allen sat down with Finkel to talk about his relationship with Knight, his time spent researching hermits of the world, and what Knight thought of the book.
Listen to their conversation here.